Adhesive-backed paper notes have become ubiquitous both in the workplace and at home. Paper Post-it.RTM. notes, for example, provide a convenient way to quickly jot down information for later reference. Users often rely on paper Post-it.RTM. notes to annotate documents, provide reminder notes, record the substance of telephone conversations, or manage contact information. Paper Post-it.RTM. notes can be attached to various surfaces such as documents, desktops, telephones, and the like. The note can be easily repositioned on a given surface, or removed for attachment to another surface. Also, the user can readily edit the notes as necessary.
Notes can be particularly useful to computer users. A computer user typically uses a computer to create and edit a variety of documents. In many cases, annotation of the documents is desirable. Also, the computer user ordinarily receives numerous e-mail messages and telephone calls throughout the day. Under these circumstances, computer users often rely on notes to quickly record information that will be needed later. Paper Post-it.RTM. notes offer great convenience to the computer user. It can be even more convenient, however, to create a software note on the computer rather than manually prepare a paper note.
The note created by the computer user may relate, for example, to the contents of one or more documents being edited or reviewed by the user on the computer display. In this case, it may be more convenient to associate the note with a document and then store the document and the note together in computer memory. Alternatively, the note may serve as a reminder that is more visible to the user if placed on the computer desktop, perhaps with an audible alarm. Also, creation of a software note can facilitate later manipulation of its contents for incorporation in a document or communication to another user.
Application programs exist for the creation of software notes. Post-it.RTM. Software Notes, for example, available from Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company (3M), of St. Paul, Minn., allows a user to create, edit, delete, move and save software notes among multiple documents and across the computer desktop. The software note contents can be entered in text form by keyboard or by copying a portion of a document. In addition, a wide range of graphic objects, and other multimedia objects, can be associated with a software note. In each case, the software note can be date and time-stamped, and associated with a particular document or event.
A paper note has a finite content area determined by the size of the note. Once the user has filled a note, any remaining content must be written on a new note. A software note, in contrast, can provide a content area that extends well beyond the boundaries of the note presented on the computer display. In particular, a software note can be presented on the computer display in the form of a note having a given size. The size of the software note typically can be expanded, however, to show added content. Also, the user typically is allowed to enter content that exceeds the boundaries of the visible note. Thus, a software note affords greater capacity than a single paper note, but can be more difficult to view when the contents are lengthy.